This edition was prepared by Diana Thompson — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
How great delight
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
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How great delight by Thomas Tomkins — Lyrics
How great delight from those sweet lips I taste
Whether I hear them speak, or feel them kiss!
Only this want I have, that being graced
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About How great delight
Thomas Tomkins captures the bittersweet pangs of love in this exquisite madrigal for two sopranos and tenor. The text expresses the intense pleasure of a lover's embrace, yet paradoxically, the speaker longs for more, feeling a void even when experiencing such joy. If granted one pleasure—kissing or speaking—the absence of the other is keenly felt. Tomkins's setting, in idiomatic English, reflects this yearning and delight through its intricate vocal lines and expressive harmonies, typical of the finest secular part-music of the English Renaissance.
